Wealth inequality grows in Pakistan.

A local Pakistani economist speaking to a reporter for the BBC News service says there is a dark side to the country's macroeconomic progress. He says, "there has been an alarming growth in inequality." The November 29, 2006 story goes on to say that the Pakistani elite and a newly enfranchised, if small by comparison, middle class "have gone on one of history's greatest shopping sprees, splashing out in record numbers on anything from fridges and flats, to luxury cars."

Anecdotally, the BBC says that there is not much difference in the lives of the country's poor.

The story also makes reference to the fact that while government interference in the economy is declining, officials are still a large and stifling presence. The story relates a tale of a textile firm that acknowledges less government interest in the firm's operations, but provides an illustration that it is still a force to be reckoned with. There are now only 18 official inspections a year but, apparently, compliance issues are not the real motivation. The inspectors are diligent in collecting bribes.

The growing gap between rich and poor is dangerous not only for the economy, but politically as well, says the economist cited above. When the gap is so apparent, the poor become easy targets for the rhetoric of violence of extremists.